RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Ecological stoichiometry (C:N:P ratios) in soil is an important indicator of the elemental balance in ecological interactions and processes. Long-term natural vegetation plays an important role in the accumulation and distribution of soil stoichiometry. However, information about the effects of long-term secondary forest succession on soil stoichiometry along a deep soil profile is still limited. METHODS: We selected Ziwuling secondary succession forest developed from farmland as the study area, investigated the concentrations and stoichiometry of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) at a depth of 0-100 cm along a 90-year succession chronosequence, including farmland (control), grassland, shrub, early forest, and climax forest. RESULTS: SOC and TN concentrations significantly increased with increasing restoration age, whereas soil P concentration remained relatively stable across various successional stages. SOC and TN concentrations decreased with an increase in soil depth, exhibiting distinct soil nutrient "surface-aggregation" (high nutrients concentration in the top soil layer). The soil C:P and N:P ratios increased with an increase in restoration age, whereas the variation of the C:N ratio was small and relatively stable across vegetation succession. The nutrient limitation changed along with vegetation succession, transitioning from limited N in the earlier successional stages to limited P in the later successional stages. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that more nitrogen input should be applied to earlier succession stages, and more phosphorus input should be utilized in later succession stages in order to address limited availability of these elements. In general, natural vegetation restoration was an ecologically beneficial practice for the recovery of degraded soils in this area. The findings of this study strengthen our understanding of the changes of soil nutrient concentration and nutrient limitation after vegetation restoration, and provide a simple guideline for future vegetation restoration and reconstruction efforts on the Loess Plateau.
RESUMO
Through quantitatively adjust soil electric field, we investigated the effect of soil electric field on aggregate stability and soil erosion in black soil region of Northeast China with the experiments of wet sieving and rainfall simulation. Results showed that: 1) Soil surface potential absolute value and electric field strength increased with the decreases of electrolyte concentration in bulk solution. Soil electric field strength could reach to 108 V·m-1. 2) With the increase of soil electric field strength, the degree of fragmentation of soil aggregates increased and the mean weight diameter (MWD) decreased sharply first and then kept constant. 3) With decreasing electrolyte concentration and increasing surface potential, the amount of soil loss increased. As the electrolyte concentration was <0.01 mol·L-1, the corresponding soil surface potential was > 210 and 209 mV for Bin-xian and Keshan, respectively, the cumulative amounts of soil loss with rainfall time almost overlapped, suggesting that the electrolyte concentration of 0.01 mol·L-1 was the threshold for soil erosion. 4) There was a linear relationship between soil cumulative loss and MWD. Our results indicated that soil electric field strength increased as the rain enters into the soil, which could induce soil aggregate breakdown and release amounts of fine soil particles. Finally, soil erosion occurred under the driving of flowing water. Our results provided insights into the mechanism underlying soil erosion in the black soil region of Northeast China.
Assuntos
Solo , Água , China , Chuva , Movimentos da ÁguaRESUMO
Choosing the soils under different vegetation recovery of Heidaigou dump as the research objects, we mainly analyzed their basic physical and chemical properties and enzyme activities with the method of Analysis of Variance as well as their relations using Pearson correlation analysis and path analysis hoping to uncover the driving factors of the differences between soil enzyme activities under different vegetation restoration, and provide scientific suggestions for the plant selection as well as make a better evaluation to the reclamation effect. The results showed that: (1) Although the artificial vegetation restoration improved the basic physical and chemical properties of the soils while increasing their enzyme activities to a certain extent, the soil conditions still did not reach the level of the natural grassland; (2) Contents of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (TN) of the seabuckthorns were the nearest to those of the grassland, which reached 54. 22% and 70. 00% of those of the grassland. In addition, the soil bulk density of the seabuckthorns stand was 17. 09% lower than the maximum value of the amorpha fruitcosa land. The SOC and TN contents as well as the bulk density showed that seabuckthorns had advantages as the species for land reclamation of this dump; Compared with the seabuckthorn, the pure poplar forest had lower contents of SOC and TN respectively by 35.64% and 32.14% and displayed a 16.79% higher value of soil bulk density; (3) The activities of alkaline phosphotase under different types of vegetation rehabilitation had little variation. But soil urease activities was more sensitive to reflect the effects of vegetation restoration on soil properties; (4) Elevation of the SOC and TN turned out to be the main cause for soil fertility restoration and increased biological activities of the dump.